There is a large moth here called X’mahaná which in other parts of Mexico is I guess considered bad luck and called “witch moth” in Spanish, but here on the Peninsula it is considered an omen that you will have a visitor. In fact, its name translates from Maya as “who lives in another’s house”.
And because in many houses the ceilings are high and the walls white and this is a large, dark moth, it is very striking when it alights on a wall. Non-locals often mistake it for a small bat and we have those too (but I have never had one come inside).
Anyway, we are in the period in which they are seen, and not long ago I saw one was just above the main door to the street. I was admiring it and debating if I wanted to rise to cross the room to get my phone off the charger to take a photo, which would alert the dogs and could make the moth frantic and harm it, which I did not want to do. Before I could even decide I heard my husband’s friend call out at the gate just on the other side of that door. It was indeed as if the X’mahaná was announcing him, it was so perfect. In opening the door of course the creature exited because it was probably just resting for a moment anyway.
I do not ascribe to either school of thought because you can always seem to make yourself believe they came true. Eventually someone always shows up or something bad happens, so of course they could appear predictive, no matter what you think they represent, right? But it is fun to think a giant moth might be like a household herald anyway. Hear ye, hear ye, now arrives Miguel!
The formal scientific name is Ascalapha odorata. Here is a photo of a relatively small one on a different day, resting on a door.
